The solar cooking project is based on a strategy of "integrated household energy". This strategy is based on the use of an improved wood stove for preparing breakfast, the use of the solar cooker (adapted for use in the very windy near-desert areas) for lunch, and the use of the solar cooker with a "hay-basket" to keep food warm for the evening. In this area solar cooking is possible for about 330 days per year, it rarely rains and the main hindrance are the duststorms in December-January. The fuel-wood requirement has been reduced to less than 1/4 of what was required earlier. In a recent evaluation it was found that trips for searching wood have been reduced by 86%. Coordinator Dr. Derk Rijks reports 14,000 solar cookers have been distributed as of mid-2009.

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Recent news and developments

July 2011: A Goedhart Film production, TAHA CHAMCHIHA Solar Cooking in the Sahel, documents daily life for the Sudanese refugees living in camps in bordering Chad. TchadSolaire has trained over 12,000 women in the use of simple solar panel cookers. These CooKits have provided the women additional free time normally spent searching for scarce firewood. Within each camp there is a workshop center where cookers are made for distribution to the other residents. Though the cookers are somewhat fragile, the women have appreciated being involved with the process of making the simple CooKits. The film also shows how the companion Guffahheat-retention cooker baskets are being assembled to use with the panel cookers to keep the food piping hot for dinner served in the early evening.